Human resources professionals in charge of Training and Development (T&D) activities need to be on the constant lookout for the best teaching approaches to ensure effective learning for both teams and individual employees.
In this context, it is fundamental to recognize that the way people learn has changed significantly. Even more importantly: each individual has his or her own pace and preferences when it comes to acquiring new knowledge and skills. It is the role of T&D to offer training programs that can be adapted to each individual.
It is in this quest to offer adequate training programs to today’s professionals that a particular concept has been gaining ground in the field of professional training, development, and education: andragogy.
What is andragogy?
Just as pedagogy deals with the approach to learning as related to children, andragogy seeks to understand the effects of education on adult individuals and how teaching can be optimized for the specific needs of this age group. Thus, andragogy refers to techniques and practices that are optimized for the effective teaching of adults, which is the ultimate goal of corporate training and development departments.
Why is andragogy important for T&D?
When organizing training programs, or even choosing service providers to train a given team, T&D professionals need to be able to understand which options will actually develop the desired skills or knowledge in the team.
As we’ve mentioned, andragogy is important because it allows the teaching process within the organization to be more efficient, thus putting the company’s investment in employee training to better use and with a greater potential to yield real returns for the business.
In addition to seeking training that is aligned with recent trends such as microlearning, content personalization and e-learning, choosing options with a teaching methodology that is based on andragogical practices is also essential to the success of the training program.
How to apply andragogy in corporate training programs
Among the techniques proposed by andragogy, one point that stands out is the incentive for learners to have a leading role throughout the training process, since practical experience is one of the richest sources of learning for adult employees engaged in training programs.
Besides promoting greater engagement and learners’ interest in corporate training, the emphasis on playing a leading role is also facilitated by the new technological environment in which companies and professionals find themselves given the current acceleration of digital transformation.
Online training programs that offer 24/7 access via laptops or smartphones allow learners greater flexibility when defining their study schedules―often taking advantage of a break that does not affect other professional day-to-day activities, and this control over the learning journey itself is a great way to encourage each professional to play a leading role.
Another interesting approach is to allow professionals in training to define, on their own, what content they want to consume throughout the program, something that is made possible by platforms that rely on AI algorithms to guide the learner experience. In this way, each individual can choose the content that is most relevant to him or herself, and can therefore take more ownership of their own learning.
Andragogy is a trend that is gaining ground in an increasingly digitalized environment; if you want to learn more, check out our ebook “Digital transformation trends in corporate training“, where we present this and other important concepts for the future of T&D.
To learn more about how Voxy promotes its learners’ leading role in online English training to improve the productivity and communication of their teams, ask our Global Solutions team for a demo of the platform.
